Basketball season ends too early for North Hunterdon girls

Sophomores Carolyn Giordano (left) and Mariah Martinez, here in action against Voorhees in December, were among the many young North Hunterdon players who picked up plenty of experience this season. The Lions finished with an 18-8 record. ((File photo by Bill Brokaw))

CLINTON TWP. — “March Madness” — and March success — eluded the North Hunterdon High girls this season.

North Hunterdon, which reached the NJSIAA State Group 4 championship game two of the last three years, was shut out in overtime in dropping a 40-32 decision to fifth-seeded Bayonne in the quarterfinal round of the North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 tournament Feb. 27.

“We had a good year but you want to be playing in March,” said North Hunterdon Head Coach Tom Hank afterwards. “That’s the disappointing thing. Some people say I’m a masochist because the two teams we had a chance to play next (Franklin and Phillipsburg) both beat the heck out of us already this year, but that’s what the game is all about. You’ve got to play them.”

Of course, the fourth-seeded Lions (18-8) went into this season with a much different-looking and younger cast than they put on the floor the past few years. Four of the recent standouts who helped NHHS win a state championship in 2010 and finish second a year ago are now playing Division 1 college ball, and all the starters from last year’s club graduated.

Juniors Allison Lane and Alicea Foran along with three sophomores started against Bayonne (21-5), which had four juniors and a senior in its lineup.

“Our record was good but it was deceiving because I think we were capable of much more, even with our youth,” said Hank. “And halfway through the season I want to throw that youth factor out because by then they’ve played a lot of basketball.

“So, again, it’s just the consistency thing of youth. We consistently in games had moments when we didn’t talk or stopped running our offense, or we wanted to just shoot a quick shot, or we weren’t seeing the clock, or didn’t know when to hold the ball. That type of thing will hopefully change next year with maturity, and it’s going to be a positive.”

The Lions came close to taking their season into March — their next game would’ve been Friday, March 1 against Phillipsburg — but they couldn’t muster any offense during the four-minute OT against the Bees’ aggressive, quick man-to-man defense.

NHHS forced the extra session when Foran swished a three-point bomb with 1:17 left in regulation to forge a 32-all deadlock.

Bayonne, following a North turnover with 38 seconds to go, had an opportunity to win it but never orchestrated a set play and point guard Jesenia Montalvo finally tossed up an off-balance 12-footer from near the baseline that banged off the top of the backboard with 0:01 left.

“That wasn’t the play we drew up,” said Bayonne Head Coach James Turner. “We wanted to get the ball to our best player (junior forward Aneia Williams) but Jesenia panicked and threw it up.”

The Lions, who had just four turnovers during the third and fourth periods, committed three in the OT and missed three shots. The first give-away set up Deserai Vazquez’s three-pointer against the home team’s 3-2 zone with 2:17 to go. It was the Bees’ fourth trey of the night, but the first since midway through the second quarter.

“That one was a killer,” said Hank. “In the end, it’s us not talking and not communicating and getting out on them. That’s been our problem all year. We’re giving up threes because our talk on the court is very minimal. We’ve been stressing to them they have to be talking to each other, who’s got what.

“And again, by not talking we left her wide open and the person on the bottom had to try to get out on her and she couldn’t do it.”

NHHS then went man-to-man in an attempt to disrupt the patient Bees, and the Lions did force a mistake but missed a shot. Then, after a North turnover, Vazquez hit both ends of a one-and-one at the 1:40 mark.

Following a Lions’ timeout at 1:14, they threw the ball away again just 14 seconds later. Bayonne finished off the victory by sinking three of four free throws in the final 48 seconds.

“We played smart,” said Turner, “and that’s something we worked on since the middle of the season. I looked back on our game film and could see we were rushing shots, being too antsy on offense. So I always tell them play 100 miles per hour on defense and 55 on offense. Slow it down, move the ball, let’s get the shot we want.

“North Hunterdon is so well-coached and they play that same zone they’ve been using for years, and they play it so well, and it’s hard to get the ball inside. We just had to keep running our wheel offense and move the ball.”

Hank also pointed out Bayonne had its typical quick, if not large, lineup with a hungry, pressing man-to-man defense.

“Both teams are very, very similar,” he said. “We do the same things over and over each year. You don’t need tape from the year before, and that’s good and I like that because it’s continuity. They just outdid us this year. They have a nice, quick team and they share the ball real well.

“But this was the way we played all year — up and down. We did some things very well and some things very poorly, and it caught up to us.”

Lane, a 6-foot-1 center, had a six-inch advantage against Williams, who guarded Lane the entire game. But the Lion, who returned from an ankle injury two days earlier, had just three baskets — one following the opening quarter.

“Williams is tough,” said Turner. “We always teach them the low man wins. You get low and box out. It doesn’t matter if the other girl is 6-5 or 5-5, you just have to box them out.”

“Allison is more the type of player who’ll beat you off the dribble,” said Hank. “And we had so much trouble getting into our offense against their quick guards. Sometimes we couldn’t even see her and she was open at other times but we didn’t give her the ball.”

Foran, one of North’s floor leaders, also saw relatively sporadic court time as Hank had a bunch of players going in and out of the lineup, even in the opening half.

“In the first part of the game, the play was so up-tempo, we saw Mariah (Martinez) was dragging and Megan (Conner) also was a bit,” said Hank, “But what happens sometimes is when someone goes in for you and they might play a little bit better. And you know I’m not a big subber. But once you’re into a flow you want to stay there and I think tongues were hanging on both sides a bit in the third quarter, too.”

The game was tight all the way. Until Bayonne closed it out with the 8-0 overtime, neither squad had a lead larger than four points.

NHHS led 17-14 late in the first half before the Bees scored the last two buckets for an 18-17 edge at the break.

Bayonne went up 29-25 with 5:21 left in regulation but Christie Young’s layup off an offensive rebound and Hailey Stine’s layup, assisted by Lane, still had the Lions within 31-29.

After Williams’ foul shot with 1:28 to go, Foran swished her trey 11 seconds later for the 32-32 tie, and it stayed that way until Vazquez sank the Bees’ fourth three-pointer of the night in OT.